Emo Punk
 

I both love and hate emo punk for some reason. The Ataris especially. Right after breakups Ataris is just the thing for me to listen to. Belting out lyrics and getting all that emotional baggage out. But then again when the mp3 list hits the Ataris section when ur single and alrighty then it makes you all kinda depressed. I dunno kinda happened tonight.

Besides Ataris I also listen to early Weezer. Maladroit just didn't do it for me.

stupid question, but what exactly IS emo punk?
i've seen these words try to describe an old-school baseball style sorority t-shirt on ebay a few times, which confused the heck out of me
is it a style of music as well as an overall style of dress, etc?

please forgive me for my ignorance, none of my friends are into this kind of thing, that's why i don't really know:D

The short answer is: sorta?

"Emo" is a label - it has been applied to music (first), and more recently a style of dress.

The musical style originally began as an offshoot of punk/pop music, and was characterized by its lyrics - they tended to be intensely personal, very emotional (hence "emo" - short for "emotional rock/punk").

Today, the "emo" label (like so many others) has gotten blurry - download "Again I Go Unnoticed" by Dashboard Confessional, this is a band almost universally accepted as "emo" but without the sound that characterized early emo music.

The style of dress referred to as "emo" is the classic Weezer geek-rock look - old-school t-shirts (think goodwill or amvets), black-rimmed glasses (think Rivers Cuomo), Vans, and etc.

btw - IMO "Maladroit" didn't suck that badly - it's nowhere near "s/t blue" or "Pinkerton", but that's like saying that Bob Marley never quite replicated "Babylon by Bus" - you can't just rip off classics every time you step into the booth.

Anyway - the emo bands I listen to most are Saves the Day, the Dismemberment Plan (although I don't think they're very emo, some do), Dashboard when I'm feeling like that, and etc.